From Highway 78 Traveling West – Exit Sycamore Avenue; make a left onto Sycamore Avenue and go under Highway 78; continue on Sycamore Avenue to Engineer Street ( about 1.5 miles); make a right onto Engineer Street; and the district office will be the first building on the left. Customer Service is located in the right wing of the building.

From Highway 78 Traveling East - Exit Sycamore Avenue; make a right onto Sycamore Avenue; continue on Sycamore Avenue to Engineer Street ( about 1.5 miles); make a right onto Engineer Street; and the district office will be the first building on the left. Customer Service is located in the right wing of the building.




Normal business hours are 8:00 AM to 5:00 PM, Monday through Friday, excluding holidays. An answering service is available after hours for emergencies. Messages may be left at any time using the voice mail system.




The district’s boundaries include all of the City of Vista, as well as portions of San Marcos, Oceanside, Escondido and the County of San Diego.




Please call our Customer Service Department at (760) 597-3120 for information on how to have your existing water meter turned on or to transfer an existing account to your name.




Please call our Engineering Services Department at (760) 597-3116 for information regarding the process for having a water meter installed.




Service charges may vary with the size of the meter and pay a portion of fixed costs of operating the system. Large meters pay more because they place a greater demand on the system and require larger reservoirs, pumps and pipelines. The San Diego County Water Authority fee comes directly from the Water Authority to cover their infrastructure costs. The water usage charge is based on 100 cubic feet (748 gallons). For more information, view the district's Water Rate Schedule (PDF, 44K).




Yes. The Metropolitan Water District's Interim Agricultural Water Program provides for a discount on water used for:

"the growing or raising, in conformity with recognized practices of husbandry, for the purposes of commerce, trade, or industry, or agricultural, horticultural, or floricultural products, and produced (1) for human consumption or for the market, or (2) for the feeding of fowl or livestock produced for human consumption or for the market, or (3) for the feeding of fowl or livestock for the purpose of obtaining their products for human consumption or for the market, such products to be grown or raised on a parcel of land having an area of not less than one acre utilized exclusively therefor."

The current agricultural consumption charge is $1.64 per unit, which is $.34 less than the domestic charge of $1.98. Call the Conservation Department at (760) 597-3160 for more information or to sign up for the program.




Your water meter is underground in a rectangular box with a plastic, metal or concrete lid, and is usually found in or near the sidewalk. To get to the meter, you can remove the cover with a large screwdriver. VID meters measure water used in cubic feet. One cubic foot equals 7.48 gallons. Our bills are based on how many hundred cubic feet units (748 gallons) each customer uses. Most of the water meters read like an odometer. Simply read the numbers across the counter (see illustration to the left).




Yes. The district participates in a voucher program administered by the San Diego County Water Authority. Vouchers for high efficiency washing machines are available to residential customers. Vouchers for these devices are also available to businesses through the commercial, industrial and institutional voucher program. Please visit the Water Conservation page to find out more information about these programs.




First, check the valve where the water line enters your house or grove to make sure it hasn’t been turned off. Look for obvious leaks between the valve and water meter. If this doesn’t work, call our office at (760) 597-3100, and we will be happy to assist you in finding the problem.




If you see a water leak in our system, please call us at (760) 597-3100 immediately. After hours and on weekends, our answering service will take your number and have a duty operator call you back. Please do not wait until business hours to call as this delays repairs to the system, causes water waste and could reduce the water supply in your area.

If you see a water leak in your private system, you should contact a plumber or landscaper to assist you.




If there is a possibility of contamination of municipal drinking water by your water use, you will be required to have an approved backflow device.

Backflow devices are required on all new commercial and agricultural accounts. If you are an existing account, and fall into a "high risk" category such as chemical processing, medical and dental facilities, flower grower, RV dump station etc., you are required to immediately install a backflow device to protect other water users on the system. Eventually, all commercial and agricultural accounts will be required to have a backflow device installed.

If you have any questions, feel free to call our office at (760) 597-3100.

Click here to view the district's Backflow Test Report. 




The taste of drinking water is affected by its mineral content as well as the presence of chlorine, which is used to protect against potential bacterial contamination. Sometimes plumbing can cause a metallic flavor, especially if the water has been sitting in pipes for many hours. Taste, however, does not indicate a higher or lower degree of water quality.




Musty or fishy odors can be caused by harmless algae in the water, especially during the hot summer months. Even after chlorine has been added to disinfect the water, these odors may persist. Please telephone us at (760) 597-3100, if you notice any unpleasant odors, so that we may investigate the cause.




Yes! The District prepares an annual Consumer Confidence Report which provides a snapshot of the quality of water that we provide for a given year. The report is mailed to customers each year in June. If you have specific questions about your water, please call us at (760) 597-3143.